Will Leitch is a wonderful human being. I enjoy his writing, and I don’t particularly disagree with his assessment in his weekly power rankings that the Steelers are the best team in the NFL at this moment. (I don’t particularly agree with it, either, but that’s because power rankings are gay and exist only for people to argue pointlessly about something that the playoff system resolves for us.)

What I take issue with is Leitch’s foolhardy sentiment that accompanies the ranking:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3). Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the world’s only likable juggernaut franchise. I’m not sure why nobody hates the Steelers they way they hate the Cowboys, or the Yankees, or the Red Sox, or the Lakers, but they just don’t.

AU CONFUCKINGTRAIRE, mon backwater frere. They just DO. The Steelers are likable in precisely the way that the Yankees, or Manchester United, or the Wehrmacht is likable. The Steelers are the cancer of football teams: it usually wins, it’s a depressing pain in the ass, and anyone who cheers for it is an asshole.

Go ahead and count me as Pittburgh Steeler Hater Number One. I fucking LOATHE the Steelers. I despise them far more than any other franchise on the planet. And that’s saying a lot, because if the Italian national soccer team’s chartered jet collided with the Yankees’ team plane, I’d happily burn my penis jerking off on the flaming wreckage.

And you know what’s most irritating about the Steelers? It’s that Leitch’s statement has an element of truth: the team itself is, indeed, somewhat likable. Now that Joey Porter’s taken his fucktardery to Miami, Pittsburgh doesn’t have much in the way of egregiously repugnant assholes on the roster. Polamalu’s hair is annoying, but I like the way he plays. James Harrison is a badass. Hines Ward is annoyingly, quietly good. I dislike Roethlisberger, but mostly because he sheds sacks so easily.

No, what makes the Steelers the most loathsome team in all of sports are their dickface fans. The front-running fucks who fill up sports bars in their jerseys all over the country. Funny how Pittsburgh is one of the smallest markets in the NFL, penned in regionally by teams from Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia, and yet its fans are miraculously strewn all over the country in large numbers. Why, it’s almost as if most of them only became die-hard fans because the team is so successful!

These are the intellectual midgets who will point out that I, as a Seahawks fan, am only bitter because of Super Bowl XL. To which I say, FUCKING GODDAMN RIGHT. And I will be until the day I die. I’m entitled to this bitterness. It’s what Seahawks fans got instead of a victory parade. Because, you know, some fans cheer for teams that DON’T go to the playoffs every year, some fans DON’T bitch about the offensive line’s play when the team is 11-3, and some fans DON’T still bitch about Kordell Stewart a decade later when other fans suffered through Kelly Stouffer at quarterback.

And honestly, f–k the Steelers. Them and their fans waving those stupid-ass yellow towels. Leave it to Pittsburgh to come up with a lame accessory two entire decades before Thunderstix!

/that said, there’s about 20 players on their roster I’d crawl through glass to have on my team. And they’re not shoved down my throat by ESPN like the Cowgirls!

12.16.08 at 5:04 pm

Christmas Ape

Actually, I encouraged Ufford to write this.

And we bitch about Bruce Arians mostly.

Okay, the O-line too. Fucking Willie Colon.

12.16.08 at 5:05 pm

5823111

Word.

12.16.08 at 5:05 pm

TheBWeezy

Seriously, there are at least 5 X’s missing from the nose tackle’s shirt.

12.16.08 at 5:05 pm

matt

Praise the fucking lord. Preach on brotha. FUCK THE STEALERS! And yes I meant to spell it like that so fuck you too. And yes, I also am still bitter about that so called fucking super bowl xl, fucking referees.

12.16.08 at 5:07 pm

Weed Against Speed

And suddenly Ape remembers why he bought that 50 pound sack of flour.

12.16.08 at 5:09 pm

jackin'4beats

@CC: You sir are officially the mad rapper. And that is perfectly fine with me.
“I’LL TELL YOU WHY I’M MAD SON, I’LL TELL YOU WHY I’M MAD!!!”

/Pittsburgh’s overrated football team can take a lead induced bath in the Allegheny.

12.16.08 at 5:11 pm

Christmas Ape

/Pittsburgh’s overrated football team can take a lead induced bath in the Allegheny.

Only after beating J4B’s overrated football team on a Romo pick-six

12.16.08 at 5:12 pm

Dibbly

my only point of contention in argument with this post actually comes from Leitch’s putting the Steelers in the company of the Cowboys, Yankees, Redskins and Lakers – those teams are mostly hated by some many people because of their deep pocket owners who buy them championships by picking up every high priced free agent available – fuck that.

Just to cause said bomb to go off and then retire to live a life where you can claim “I f–ked a girl to death!”

12.16.08 at 5:21 pm

Crosshare

That’s hot
/growled voice

12.16.08 at 5:22 pm

futuremrsrickankiel

That chick ate Jean Gray

12.16.08 at 5:25 pm

andrea

the good thing about bruce arians is that he pretty much sucks, because otherwise we’d (we as in football fans, and we as in steeler fans, those among us of course) probably deal with some completely incompetent fans in the greater pittsburgh area trekking into heinz field with “arians nation” signs without understanding the totality of the problem with said signs.

12.16.08 at 5:26 pm

Sabbatini's Pacifier

Fuck yeah CC…except the part about Man. United, FUCK YOU…

As another one of the 14 Seahawk fans left after the bandwagon emptied in week 3, I still harbor unmitigated hatred towards the Steelers for paying off the refs in Super Bowl XL..

12.16.08 at 5:27 pm

andrea

also, as a pittsburgh native and steeler fan, i would like to personally disown that fat broad in the middle there. disown.

12.16.08 at 5:27 pm

Tim Tebow's Girlfriend's Tits

@Dibbly

Uh… except for the fact that three of the teams that you mention play in leagues with salary caps. So “buying” a championship is pretty hard.

This is simply outstadning and makes some great points. I like the team, but its fans can all choke on a big fat donkey cock.

12.16.08 at 5:28 pm

Jim

Damn… bitter much? By the way, Super Bowl XL was almost three years ago, dickhead… Get over it already!

12.16.08 at 5:31 pm

Rhymenocerous

We’re a pretty angry bunch, getting over things like the folks in OKC keep preaching; is pretty fucking unlikely. But I admire your spirit.

12.16.08 at 5:33 pm

Monkey Business

The best part about that picture isn’t the Steelers new starting nose tackle in the middle. It’s a combination of

A) The girl on the left, who has just a little too much pooch to be wearing that shirt
B) The girl on the right, who looks positively svelte compared to the land beast in the middle
and C) the three reasonably attractive girls in the back, which apparently move toward the middle in hottness.

Also, you’re not allowed to talk about championships outside of the last decade, unless someone whose team has never won one is giving you shit. Then, you may bring them up, as well as whatever embarassing playoff exits their team has made in the last several years.

12.16.08 at 5:36 pm

Dibbly

TTBT –

yeah i figured someone would bring that up, but my point is still valid – those teams generally spend more money, even within the cap, than others do (no salcapflawa) – think about how often the steelers make a big free agent acquisition? what was the last one, duce staley? if you can call him that? (you can’t) i think a lot of fans get embittered towards teams that house the talent their teams developed that was the general idea behind my point. i don’t know the numbers, nor do i wish to look them up, but its about the perception anyways.

12.16.08 at 5:38 pm

hardawayhatesyou

Damn… bitter much? By the way, Super Bowl XL was almost three years ago, dickhead… Get over it already!

Says the guy who is a fan of a team that has 5 titles to the fan of young that has none in 32 years. Fucking dick.

12.16.08 at 5:38 pm

JackSplat

You need to include Steelers fans bitching about Probowl selections.

/fan born in the 70s that suffered through the 80s and is beyond annoyed by fans who “discovered” the team in 2005

12.16.08 at 5:38 pm

Mr Snrub

I’ve never met a Penguins, Pirates or Pitt fan, yet know multiple Steelers fans (and I live nowhere near Pittsburgh.)

I approve.

12.16.08 at 5:38 pm

hardawayhatesyou

@me……fan of ‘one’, not fan of ‘young’. Altho I am 99 percent sure Matt likes em young as well.

12.16.08 at 5:40 pm

porky1

Steelers fans are the Red Sox fans of football.

There, I said it.

12.16.08 at 5:44 pm

SF

As a Steelers fan, I wear your CC’s scorn as badge of honor.

(But that fucking weak-ass OL will cost Pittsburgh in the playoffs. Especially with Arians calling all those 7-step drops.)

12.16.08 at 5:44 pm

Christmas Ape

But Patriots fans are Red Sox fans pretending to like football.

12.16.08 at 5:44 pm

Stylist Mick

Patrick from Allentown coming in the future?

12.16.08 at 5:51 pm

Armchair Whiner

STEALERS is the absolutely CORRECT spelling.

Theft of Super Bowl XL – Beautiful Ben rushes for a non-touchdown, then looks soooo verrry saaatiiissssfied with his theft of points.

Theft of AFC North title – 12/14/08 – Beautiful Ben throw non-touchdown to Succulent Santonio for a non-touchdown. Walt Coleman rushes in to make sure his Vegas investment pays off. Before he gets his legs broke.

Did Walt also ref SB XL?

12.16.08 at 5:52 pm

twoeightnine

The “hot” blond in the back is wearing an Eagles jersey proving once and again that Pennsylvania is filled with a whole bunch of ugly.

12.16.08 at 5:53 pm

Christmas Ape

Did Walt also ref SB XL?

No.

12.16.08 at 5:54 pm

Brother Mouzone

/stands and slowly applauds

I made the mistake of forgetting to take off my Cowboys hat (yes, I realize the irony) when going to pick up cigarettes after that abortion of a game last week. (I live in Pgh.)

I had a cop berating me. I seriously considered taking a swing at the pig, knowing he had a gun and handcuffs. Hey, did you guys realize Romo rhymes with homo? I had no idea!

12.16.08 at 5:57 pm

Leid

Great post. Please teach Ape how to write.

And me how to leave a comment that isn’t about Ape. Seriously, my obsession with him borders on the unhealthy.

12.16.08 at 5:57 pm

Slothrop

Patriots fans are Red Sox fans pretending to like football.

no, we like football. We pretend to like basketball and hockey when our teams are winning.
/checks standings: Holy shi–I mean, WHOO HOO! Pats, Cs, and Bs all in first place bitches!

12.16.08 at 5:58 pm

Dibbly

beautiful ben? succulent santonio?

…the fuck?

12.16.08 at 6:00 pm

Gino Tourettesa

I hear the Cowher girls are hot and legal.

12.16.08 at 6:09 pm

Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction

@ Stylist Mick

Being exiled near the shit hole that is Allentown, I can say there are about as many Steeler fans as there are people without 1st degree murder charges. I’d say 3 maybe 4 at most.

12.16.08 at 6:21 pm

I am Silverback's Raging Rage

Seriously. Super Bowl XL was 3 years ago. I agree it was shitty, but what did you expect when the Seahawks came out to The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony. GET OVER IT. I’ve had contact with TWO seahawks fans my whole life..always bitter about XL and SO PROUD of winning the shittiest division in football…oh wait…

/2nds disownage of large marge in banner pic. Ugh.
//EVERY fanbase has douches

12.16.08 at 6:23 pm

Roy Hobbs

@cc – I’d explain to you why there are Steelers fans spread around the country, but you’re still too mad to hear it. Maybe I should wait for the 5 year anniversary of Super Bowl XL.

The Steelers are a well-managed respectable team that is competitive in most years. Who woulda thunk that people would want to follow a team like that?

Oh, and Ben was in. Notice that CC and the Seahawks fans conveniently forget about the fact that their defense let Parker run free for 75 yards, and also fell for the gadget Randle El to Ward pass that they had run 8 weeks before.

I am a Seahawks fan, and I want to make perfectly clear to everyone here that I, nor any other self-respecting Seahawks fan, will ever, EVER get over Super Bowl XL. Do you hear me? This is a pain that we will bear FOR THE REST OF OUR MISERABLE, RAIN-SOAKED LIVES!!!!! Actually, this pain will continue to fester past our deaths, because I plan to indoctrinate my children into this hate, and show them loop after loop of That Game, until they feel the same as me. No matter what else happens from here on out, this anger is a curse that will blight my soul for the rest of time.

But…..I don’t blame the Steelers. Sure, they’re fans are arrogant, front-running, big-mouthed, fat-assed, self-entitled douchnozzles that — I know deep in their heart — secretly feel guilty for celebrating a tainted championship and resent the hell out of anyone who even hints at what actually happened during that game. However, I realize most fans from the east coast are dipshits in their own unique way (thanks KSK), and they aren’t any different. The Steeler organization, to it’s credit, have remained civilized and not hinted at rubbing our faces in the loss. Their fans should take a cue from the brass.

But I will always hate the Steelers, and that hate is purely illogical; they were present when my favorite team got screwed out of a possible championship. Short of hunting down Bill Leavy and choking the ever-loving life out of his body with my bare hands, all I can do is vent my anger at the team that was, at worst, an accessory after the fact. They are an eternal reminder of what happened, like watching the remains of the WTC on TV every Sunday.

Great article, Ufford. Now I’m going to stare at the wall for a half hour.

12.16.08 at 6:56 pm

FUCK THE TWELTFTH MAN

whiner

12.16.08 at 6:59 pm

Luz

some fans DON’T bitch about the offensive line’s play when the team is 11-3

But our offensive line REALLY sucks though. Besides, if other fans don’t bitch about the worst part of their team, they’re just not paying attention.

P.S. It was offensive PI
Locklear got away with a thousand holding calls
When the Steelers got called for offensive PI did they cry? Nope they picked up a first down on 3rd and 28.

P.P.S. Every team has bad calls go their way, including the Steelers. The only difference is that the losers remember them. So fuck you for rooting for losers.

12.16.08 at 7:01 pm

bobby t

i’m from pittsburgh and agree. but i love the steelers. maybe i am just an asshole.

12.16.08 at 7:01 pm

Dibbly

seriously…succulent santonio?

12.16.08 at 7:02 pm

Mike T

Yeah! What Ape said! Fuckin’ Hines Wald!

12.16.08 at 7:07 pm

2Port

1. There are steelers fans everywhere because people are leaving Allegheny county in droves, and have been for years, to go to places where there are jobs.

2. No more Seattle bitching. Not because of Super Bowl XL, but because you live in the most beautiful part of the continuous 48. You have Salmon runs going through your open air malls, you have wonderous mountains in the distance and trout streams every 20 feet. We have the Yough, Mon, Allegheny and Ohio. Guess what, we won Super Bowl XL, you win everyday.

That said still ain’t leaving. Love this place. Love the Stillers. Not skipping out to DC like some other people. J/K Ape.

12.16.08 at 7:17 pm

senor mullet

theres no way that shirt is only an XXL

12.16.08 at 7:29 pm

porky1

And actually when comparing Pittsburgh to the Sox, I don’t mean the diehards–I mean the assholes on the bandwagon who are invisible during the lean years and flat-out fake-ass front-running pieces of dogshit when the team is doing well. Like the 50-year-old broad in my old office who had never left California for more than six days who wore her Steelers jersey every casual Friday during football season and called the QB Ben Whatsisname.

At the same time, the Steelers ARE the most respectable juggernaut. When the Raiders are out of contention (week 1 of preseason) if there’s one team I don’t mind winning, it’s the Steelers. And that’s fuckin’ weird though I know I’m not alone. What other sport has such a high-profile team who engenders so little hatred or indifference? Because fuck the Cowboys, Yankees, Celtics, Red Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Knicks, SF Giants, Eagles, Phillies, Mets, Spurs, Mavericks, Pistons, Suns, Jets, Patriots, andd…everyone else I forgot.

12.16.08 at 7:33 pm

Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction

Stan from Polish Hill:

Yinz Stiller hatin’ jagoffs can go fuck yerselves. Us Picksburghers deserved Super Bowl XL more than yous coffee drinkin’ jagoffs in Seattle. We still live in the city even though nobody’s had a job in 20 years. And did you know the Bus was from Detroit?

(Chugs Iron City beer)

If it wasn’t for the Stillers what else would we do in this city? Do yinz think it’s easy being unemployed and sitting at home all day? What do yinz think we would do all day if we did have a reason to perform the Picksburgh polka? ([www.youtube.com]) Cut off my mullet? Look for a job? Move?
We’d have to pretend to be Pirates fans again. We have the Penguins too, but I haven’t been allowed to go near ice since my cousin Stosh told me to lick a lamppost in January.

(Blasts Ah Leah by Donnie Iris)

If it weren’t for the Stillers this city would bea ghost town. All us proud Picksburgers would have to move with our lives and stop pretending it’s the glory days of the 1970’s any more (was born in 1977, too young to remember any of the Pirates or Steelers championships).

Why don’t yinz Seattle jagoffs go back to your overpriced coffee and bitch about losing a basketball team yinz never went to see.

(Starts Here We Go Steelers chant)

12.16.08 at 7:50 pm

Elle

I actually don’t think the Steelers have many bandwagon fans. Or, at least there are enough “real” fans to make up for it. Seriously, the wait list for season tickets is twenty years long. Waiting spots on the list get passed on to younger generations. I mean, is it certifiably insane to specify in your will that your children should inherit a spot on a fucking waiting list? Absolutely. But it’s also a little bit badass.

12.16.08 at 8:06 pm

Vince Young Sausage

Leitch is right about the Stillers being a likeable dynasty, even if Leitch is otherwise a self-indulgent, loose-sphinctered cocktard who’s not nearly as funny as he thinks of himself as being (as if any human could attain those heights of humoring).

12.16.08 at 8:09 pm

porky1

It all comes down to Pittsburgh being a blue-collar, All-American workin’ man’s city that doesn’t have its head up its ass. Granted, outside of sports, it has very little to have its head up its ass about…but t’was all in good fun.

12.16.08 at 8:14 pm

bobby steels

Stay bitter, Seattle. I still get furious every time I think about SB XXX. Fucking Niel O’Donnel. And what kind of horrific injustice is it when Larry Fucking Brown has had a spot in Canton for more than 10 years longer than Art Monk? They should have just ironically given the MVP to O’Donnel.

As far as bandwagon fans, there certainly are plenty as can be expected for any team that has been as consistently good as the Steelers have. I left the city about 10 years ago and have run into many who have no real connection to the team, but by and large most of the fans I’ve come accross are people from Western PA who’ve left. I mean, there are 2 Steelers bars in Charlotte (which is a pretty small city) that fill up with expats.

12.16.08 at 8:35 pm

firetruck!firetruck

hey awesome job there Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction – cause a character that is a carbon copy of not one but two others on this site is something totally necessary. also, yinzers don’t live on polish hill anymore, its just hipsters. maybe hazelwood? mckeesport?

12.16.08 at 8:41 pm

Spatula

I’m late to the game, but I don’t entirely understand the logic. Steelers fans suck because we like our team? I’ve been a fan since 1968 when we won one game. I have DirectV so I can buy the NFL Package and watch every game, but I usually just watch the Steelers. I’m glad we beat the Ravens. I’m sure the Eagles fans, for example, are happy they beat the Browns. And I’ll bet that all fans talk smack, win or lose. As a Steeler fan who went to college in Cleveland for two years, I took more than my fare share of grief. But, then again, I gave as good as I got. So, if I return tit for tat, I guess I suck.

I’m a diehard Steelers fan, sure. I’m probably my share of obnoxious on occasion, although I try to be respectful and gracious when I can (which isn’t always easy, attending school in northeast Ohio).

But I’m also a Pirates season ticket holder. So you all can go fuck yourselves.

12.16.08 at 9:21 pm

tech n9ne's tribute to falco

Seahawks – Biggest yuppie homo fans outside SF and Denver. Gayin it up since you left the AFC West.

Wanna know why leitch likes the Stillers? Like everything else, he bases it on his Cardinals (baseball) fandom, you see a large *historic* fanbase that are fat ass midwesterners who probably don’t cuss enough at games.

Ah, fuck, thanks for reminding me that I’m going to be in Switzerland when the Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII. I still haven’t gotten to experience the pure chaos that is the South Side or Oakland following a Steelers Super Bowl win (I was in Boston for XL…which actually wasn’t a bad consolation prize, rubbing it in to those dahkie-hatahs).

12.16.08 at 9:29 pm

J.L. White

You know what these comments need? More Stealer trolls. Yeah, the more unfunny, insecure, delusional homerism, the better! And if you could sprinkle in some misspelled words, that would be a nice touch, too.

12.16.08 at 9:30 pm

J.L. White

I know there are some non-douche Steeler fans jere (like Ape), but the rest of you asses can kiss me right here:

12.16.08 at 9:47 pm

firetruck!firetruck

J.L.White
maybe you should go to ESPN. most steelers fans here don’t fit your description. they will still goad you into wanting to break your computer screen, but thats cause i’m sure whoever you cheer for sucks.

12.16.08 at 9:59 pm

Vince Young Sausage

Regardings the lovely lass in the yellow Stillers XXL T-shirt at the top of the page: in Wisconsin, a girl who looks like that is called “the skinny chick”

12.16.08 at 10:05 pm

Orange Julius Page

@J.L. White,

Yeah, this board needs more high comedy like copying and pasting links to the oldest and most cliche’ anti-Steelers pics from Google’s cache.

Seattle fans were way more tolerable when they were shooting heroin and cranking out quality grunge music. Now, all they have is their misdirected hostility. Nowhere do they blame Hassle-bald, Holmgrem, or their rapist tight end.

@Will,

Oakland was quite awesome that evening.

12.16.08 at 10:12 pm

James Harrison's Arabian Goggles

Put down your glass of haterade. The only reason people hate on the Steelers and their fan base is because they are LOOKING for something to hate on. We aren’t boisterous or in your face like Pats fans, and we aren’t entitled like Yankee fans. We don’t wax our assholes, so we can’t possibly be Lakers fans. And no, there is no such thing as a bandwagon Steeler fan. Pittsburgh sports fans are too well informed (in a sports sense) to just jump on a gravy train (although the thought of jumping on a gravy train gets my dick hard).

12.16.08 at 10:23 pm

Stillers

Go fuck yourself jerk-off. The Steelers are the greatest team in NFL history.

12.16.08 at 10:31 pm

Christmas Ape

And no, there is no such thing as a bandwagon Steeler fan.

Gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you, there.

12.16.08 at 10:44 pm

Christmas Ape

Yeah, Panthers fans are horrible. I’ve been to a game at Bank of America (then Ericsson) Stadium, and the place was completely lifeless. And that was a year removed from a Super Bowl appearance.

But, to the previous point, there’s no successful team that doesn’t have at least some bandwagon fans.

12.16.08 at 10:54 pm

Francois Leroux Speedskater

Just saw the post, haven’t read all the comments yet, but the Penguins fans…they’re there, this just isn’t a hockey blog or else you’d see them more–they’re probably even more vociferous than any Steelers fan. There’s also a ton more bandwagon Pens fans than there are bandwagon Steelers fans.

Since I was born, raised and still live in Pittsburgh (your sympathy, please) and I’ve been a die-hard fan since I was old enough to know what was going on, I simply beg that you don’t lump all Steelers fans in this group.

/phallic funny

12.16.08 at 11:14 pm

Clare

Has anyone pointed out yet that XXL is wearing a wedding band?

I’m gonna go kill myself now.

12.16.08 at 11:15 pm

Orange Julius Page

@Georger,

Pens fans are definitely a hardcore, typically younger bunch, but hockey is such a niche sport in most markets that comparing our numbers to the fans of the most popular sport in North America is an incongruous argument. Also, I’ll take a few additional bandwagon fans if the tradeoff is a new arena and the privilege to see Sid, Geno, Fleury, and the others for the next decade.

12.16.08 at 11:24 pm

Orange Julius Page

Who is the idiot? Umberger or Large Ben?

12.16.08 at 11:28 pm

Man Bear Pig

Thank you thank you thank you thank you fucking THANK YOU.

God knows it needed to be said. Ad infinitum.

12.16.08 at 11:45 pm

bbbbrian

anybody with Francois Leroux knows of the love we have for the Pens here. That’s the only thing I disagreed with as I read this (The pie graph, and I did have to look reticent up). When the Pens were the worst team in the league for 3 years yeah some fans dropped off, but I think that happens with every team in that spot. As for the Buccos, when you have the amongst the worst management in pro sports, what do you expect. They are still my favorite baseball team, but God I hate them

12.16.08 at 11:48 pm

Spatula

@georger “a Plum native”

Me too, but I’m confined to the hell that is Alabama. What a small world.

12.16.08 at 11:59 pm

Francois Leroux Speedskater

@bbbrian

I’m just saying, I’ve noticed a lot more people suddenly interested in the Pens since they became good. To some extent I fell off a little bit when things were really dark. I still watched but they were just a yawn. The Pirates…man, where do I start?

12.17.08 at 12:00 am

blacknsquid

@Clare,
Forget that she has a wedding band, she has a tongue piercing.

12.17.08 at 12:06 am

Orange Julius Page

@Francois Leroux

Like was noted earlier, I think that Student Rush and the other efforts that the Pens made to reach out to younger kids and working professionals helped to build a larger base right as the pieces were falling into place to build up a better team. No doubt that there are more people paying attention to the Pens now, but the tv ratings, attendance, and merchandising sales lead me to believe that this generation of fans can survive some lean years in the future. If the bottom line is that they are trendy and popular enough for my girlfriend to be excited to watch a game with me instead of badgering me to watch a lame chick flick, I’ll gladly accept it.

12.17.08 at 12:10 am

Doug's Kin Flutie

Mom?

12.17.08 at 12:12 am

Francois Leroux Speedskater

@OJP

I agree wholeheartedly on pretty much all points. In saying they have some bandwagon fans, I neglected to mention that, somewhat surprisingly, a lot of those bandwagon fans seem to have turned the page and become pretty die-hard. I’d go so far as to say that if you polled people under the age of 25 in Pittsburgh on their favorite team, the Pens would win.

Also helps that the team members seem to be very very cool in public, and more than willing to party with their fans, which isn’t something that can be said about the Steelers.

12.17.08 at 12:12 am

mini dagger

just another fun karaoke night with the girls. bring your own plunger.

12.17.08 at 12:20 am

James Harrison's Arabian Goggles

Man….Vince Wilfork is gonna be furious when he sees his wife in a Steeler shirt.

12.17.08 at 12:24 am

smurphette

there’s no successful team that doesn’t have at least some bandwagon fans.

Having never met another Colts fan outside of the Hoosier state, I can’t really confirm or deny whether that’s true for Indy.

And + 100 to Ufford for incorporating hatred of the Azzurri into his hatred of the Steelers.

12.17.08 at 12:27 am

NHZ

Agreed. Fuck the Steelers.

(grumbles) Ape, I like your writing anyway.

Fuck the Steelers.

12.17.08 at 12:28 am

Christmas Ape

Having never met another Colts fan outside of the Hoosier state, I can’t really confirm or deny whether that’s true for Indy.

Having never met a Colts fan until Pey-Pey showed up, I can tell you it’s very true.

12.17.08 at 12:42 am

dibbly

Try polling current Colts fans outside of Indiana about who Harbaugh and Faulk are, and they’ll probably tell you they are, respectively, the coach of the Ravens, and a piece of shit on the Patsies who enjoys his herb.

12.17.08 at 12:42 am

dibbly

as he should.

12.17.08 at 12:48 am

Will

And + 100 to Ufford for incorporating hatred of the Azzurri into his hatred of the Steelers.

And a dig at Man United, too…it infuriates me to no end that if an American kid is seen wearing a soccer jersey, it’s invariably either United or Arsenal.

12.17.08 at 1:09 am

Stylist Mick

I’ve never met a Colts fan I didn’t want to punch in the face.

12.17.08 at 1:16 am

Christmas Ape

Seriously, Smurphette puts my excessive homerism to shame.

12.17.08 at 1:25 am

Ted

How has it taken this long to point why there are Steelers fans everywhere? There has been a dang diaspora since the 80s not to mention college students who come in, learn to love the Steelers, and gtfo by the thousands.

12.17.08 at 1:51 am

Mornacale

In my experience, the biggest segment of bandwagoning Pens fans is teen/young-adult girls who like them because Sid is just soooo cuuuuute.

12.17.08 at 1:53 am

Hakim Drops the Ball

As a Saints fan, I long for the day (repeat: LOOOOONG for) when the Saints finally win a Super Bowl and I get to hop on my high horse and say, “Fuck you, you’re a bandwagoner!”

12.17.08 at 2:07 am

BAM Morrisey

Even the skinny chicks in Shitsburg are fat.

No wonder all the steel workers are gay.

12.17.08 at 3:16 am

Alan

The resident Steelers fan at my work will occasionally bitch about the Super Bowl they lost to Dallas with Neil O’Donnel at QB. He’s also never even been to Pennsylvania.

As a Seahawks fan, I’ll use that as my justification for holding a grudge against Pittsburgh.

12.17.08 at 3:18 am

Dixie Normess

whoa, what a fuck day to miss the internet. I’ll make assumptions and sweeping generalizations about the 120 posts prior.
Steelers are difficult to hate and easy to enjoy because they represent (despite Bruce Arians’ best efforts) what professional football should be all about:

dedicated fan-base (yes, we have yinzers, but they turn out in droves even in the somewhat rare lean years)
ethical, loyal ownership (quit bitching about the horse-racing tie-ins, they were practically nonexistent)
storied past, steeped in tradition
fucking badass unis/colors
defense-first mentality
informed, genius-level scouting and subsequent exemplary draft record

I WOULD normally put commitment to the run, but not so much this season.

Lastly, I am always taken aback at the lack of pub the AFC North gets for being the only tough-nose division that doesn’t have an indoor/hot-weather team. We are guaranteed to play 11 outdoor games every season and as a result are fucking bank in December/January. We’re hard to hate because deep down you know we win, the way we should.

12.17.08 at 5:50 am

johndewar

Wow, are the Steeler fans that have commented here the biggest bunch of crybabies ever. Lighten up….your team is good. Take your beating like a man on this website just like every other fan base. Sheesh.

/Eagles fan
//Penn State grad; lots of friends that are Stiller fans who know they deserve to be made fun of.
///Fuck you to the Steeler fan that couldn’t find Altoona if they had Magellan in the car

12.17.08 at 6:17 am

Goodell is Failing

Holy shit! There are actually more Seakhawk “fans” on this blog than there were at Super Bowl XL. And yes, I was there- so I saw your AWFUL excuse for a fanbase firsthand. Let me break it down for you cockbags- real fans don’t sell their tickets to the opposing team’s fans at record numbers. Go ahead and whine about the results- I think its hilarious. Just like your pathetic franchise.

12.17.08 at 8:18 am

Favre's Next Interception

Hating the Steelers and their fans is almost as fun as hating the Cowboys and their fans.

12.17.08 at 8:29 am

Tim Tebow's Girlfriend's Tits

I wonder why so many neutral people don’t mind the Steelers? Could it be those three fanbases are off the fucking charts as far as dickishness goes? No, no, that can’t be it.

Actually, the point of this whole thread is that fanbases of a lot of teams hate the Steelers. Although, it is admitedly because we are jealous that they won 4 SBs before many of us were born.

12.17.08 at 8:30 am

Unsilent Majority

Orange- I love Julius Page as much as anybody, but if you ever call this a “board” again I’ll have you killed.

12.17.08 at 8:43 am

Tim Tebow's Girlfriend's Tits

@Orange

Here are a few more for you:

/Thin-skinned Steelers fans are the best kind of Steelers fans

12.17.08 at 9:25 am

dAndy

I’m coming in a little late here, but as a Jags fan there is nothing better than beating the shit out of the Stillers…..or the Colts…..or actually anybody since we suck midget cock this year.

12.17.08 at 10:01 am

Silverback Attack

I am a die hard Steelers fan, born in the 60’s, raised in Western Pa. I have thick skin and find this post funny as hell.
I will continue to bitch and moan about the O-line, Arians, poor punting game, and Ben holding the ball too long–it is my right to bitch about my team-regardless of their record.
That said, I know we are spoiled bunch in that we expect our team to make the playoffs every year, and the season is a disappointment if they don’t win the Superbowl. I can’t imagine what it is like to be a fan of a team that virtually never makes the playoffs, much less do well once they get there.( see Browns, Jets, Lions, etc)

For the record, every team has it’s share of asshole fans, although none are as annoying as disgruntled Seahawks fans, mouth breathing Ravens fans, and of course all Patriots fans.

12.17.08 at 10:07 am

Christmas Ape

Wow, are the Steeler fans that have commented here the biggest bunch of crybabies ever.

You should have seen the Pats fans when we ripped New England last year. This is nothing.

12.17.08 at 10:13 am

jackin'4beats

Only after beating J4B’s overrated football team on a Romo pick-six

OK so Romo had the case of Neil O’Donnell-itis. Karma was bound to shift at some point. At least it didn’t happen in a Super Bowl where Larry Brown…let me repeat…LARRY BROWN became the MVP due to O’Donnell’s brilliance.

/sulks off now to watch the Cowboys beat the Ravens

12.17.08 at 10:17 am

melissa

Guess bitterness is really hard a taste to get out of your mouth huh?

STEELERS NATION!

12.17.08 at 10:17 am

jackin'4beats

think about how often the steelers make a big free agent acquisition? what was the last one, duce staley?

Jerome Bettis and his #36 LA Rams jersey would like to have a word with you.

12.17.08 at 10:18 am

Yinzer B

Never thought I hear the name Julius Page again

12.17.08 at 10:21 am

Christmas Ape

Jerome Bettis and his #36 LA Rams jersey would like to have a word with you.

The Steelers got Bettis in an a Draft Day swindle for a 3rd round pick.

12.17.08 at 10:22 am

Tom

How can you NOT hate Hines Ward. That smug fucking piece of shit. I hate him and his fucking smile. Hopefully Finnegan breaks his leg this week.

12.17.08 at 10:31 am

dibbly

@J4B

see, i ask when was the last free agent acquisition, and you (a) point out a trade and (b) have to go all the way back to ’96

12.17.08 at 10:39 am

SAL GADOUT

hahahaha your tears sustain me! GO STEELERS

12.17.08 at 10:50 am

JustJoe

man, she is just really really fat. I cant get over it. just huge. yuuuuuuuuuuuuge. she is so fat i would probably approach her and ask her waht she is doing to better her situation.

12.17.08 at 10:55 am

pink

that pic of the huge fan in the front makes me want to never eat again. Not even pie.

12.17.08 at 11:03 am

Mr Short

Steeler Nation Rules and that lovely lady will take you out faster than she can put down 2 Primanti Brother Sandwiches.

12.17.08 at 11:17 am

pink

if I ever get that fat please harpoon me out of my misery. eck.

@clare

that is not XXL that is XXXXXXXXXXXXXL
and it isn’t a wedding band it’s a golden doughnut.

12.17.08 at 11:19 am

Orange Julius Page

@Unsilent Majority,

Duly noted, Sir. You have my apologies.

12.17.08 at 11:23 am

MoreRoeth, LessBurgher

My family had season ticket when the Steelers played at Pitt Stadium. I remember helping my Dad pick out our season tickets for Three Rivers Stadium that we had for almost 20 years before we had to move. While I am sure that there are some bandwagon fans, there is no doubt that most Steeler fans across the country are born into it. I love it when announcers remark that “Steeler fans travel to watch their team”…uh, no, we had to move to Atlanta, or Boston, or Miami to get a job.

We are loud, sometimes drunk, obnoxious and passionate. We whine about bad calls and try to justify it when a botched call goes our way. Doesn’t everyone? Suck it.

I feel sorry for people who don’t have the experiences of living and dying with a team the way most Steeler fans do.

So yeah, I’m a Steeler fan from Monroeville and I absolutely love it.

12.17.08 at 11:24 am

MoreRoeth, LessBurgher

*tickets*

shit. no one from Pittsburgh can spell.

12.17.08 at 11:27 am

Rhymenocerous

Stealer Nation can suck the hair offa my nuts.

12.17.08 at 11:34 am

twoeightnine

Alright, who bought Pittsburgh a computer? You can’t all be down at the library.

12.17.08 at 11:47 am

JoSCh

This post and the subsequent comments deliver. Thanks to the NFL for introducing these two fanbases, and the internet for allowing the relationship to blossom.

/fuck you Steeler fans born outside of Pennsylvania east of H-burg. Bandwagoners, all of you!
//fuck Steeler fans who aren’t over SB XL yet. Your boys got a hand from the refs, it’s not an indictment of you personally. You lying that they didn’t get that help is though…

12.17.08 at 11:58 am

dibbly

@twoeightnine

PEW PEW PEW, COMPUTER? BEN POSTING WITH XBOXLIVE

12.17.08 at 12:23 pm

LionsIn2027

The Stealers are the San Antonio Spurs of football. Consistent….ly boring to watch with no fans outside of their own markets. (see: Tv ratings for 05 and 07 NBA finals and any nationally televised Stealer game). Two teams led by Big Ben (a stuffy old clock) and Tim ‘the Big Fundamental’ Duncan. I sure hope this Superbowl has the Stealers vs Viqueens. It’s not like people aren’t suicidal enough this time of year. Hopefully they’ll have Grey’s Anatomy reruns to flip to when the 3-3 tie gets TOO exciting to watch.

12.17.08 at 12:39 pm

Day Man: Fighter of the Night Man

Not only that, but Roethlisberger is in the pro bowl YET again…..oh wait..

12.17.08 at 12:50 pm

Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction

@ LionsIn2027

Steelers don’t have any fans outside their own market? Where the fuck do you live? There’s 50x as many fans outside of the market than there are in it. There’s like 6 people that live in Pittsburgh now.

12.17.08 at 1:24 pm

LionsIn2027

I live near Detroit and we all wanted Seattle to win. Other than the fans who came here for the Superbowl, I never see any Steeler jerseys. I see Cowboy jerseys here and there, a Giants jersey once in a while, but no Steeler jerseys. I don’t think New York, Chicago, Boston, Texas, California, Anyplace That isn’t Pittsburgh, are any different than Detroit in their disinterest in the Steelers. Ohio and Baltimore might hate the Steelers but most places don’t care either way. We don’t love or hate the Steelers. We think of them the same as the Denver Broncos- they exist. I’m sure there are a couple Steeler fans in every city and town, but that’s true for any sports team. People move to other places and follow the same team. 50×6 like you said, is 300. 300 people scattered around the country isn’t very much.

12.17.08 at 1:43 pm

LionsIn2027

Since I’m on the subject…Being from the Detroit area, I just want to once again thank the NFL for ruining our Superbowl XL. We don’t have much and let’s face it, it’s a shit hole here. We finally get our first Superbowl in 30 years and it has to be the crappiest one ever. Come on, Seattle and Pittsburgh??? You couldn’t have done a little better than that? A 9-7 6th seed vs a flash in the pan nobody…thanksalot. Not only was it terrible, but it was fixed. Not fixed for the 14-2 clear favorite mind you, but fixed for the horrible 6th seed Steelers who had to break Carson Palmer’s leg to beat Cincy, sell their souls to Satan to beat Indy, and drug Denver’s Gatorade to make them sleepy and disinterested. Vegas must have really cleaned up with that fix…all those people betting money on Seattle, clearly the better team, only giving up like 3 points. Even I bet money on Seattle. Gambling was the only way to make that lousy matchup interesting. But I guess if that terrible Steeler team can upset 4 much superior and more talented teams in an impossible playoff run, I guess there’s hope for the Lions yet…oh wait, nobody’s going to be fixing games for the Lions.

Every Super Bowl has high ratings, no matter what 2 teams are playing. Super Bowl XLI had higher ratings than XL. XLII had the highest ratings ever. People watch it for the commercials and to see if another boob is going to pop out.

As for being non-sensical and contradiction-laden, read it again slowly. Also bear in mind there was some sarcasm. The raving assessment was correct though. I don’t hate the Steelers or like the Seahawks. I don’t care about them either way, just pointing out the facts. The game being fixed for them is just an observation and we all would have appreciated a less lame Super bowl matchup.

12.17.08 at 2:22 pm

Christmas Ape

By that logic, Super Bowls XXXI-XXXIX would have had more viewers than SB XXX. But they didn’t. The Steelers are an obvious draw, which hurts your “they’re boring and have no fans” argument, which is out on a limb from all the other “Steelers fans are everywhere and that’s why we hate them” claims in this thread.

In short: just stop.

12.17.08 at 2:37 pm

LionsIn2027

Surberbowl XXX had so many viewers because it was DALLAS and Pittsburgh. The key word being Dallas. Plus it was a classic matchup (for Dallas). Super Bowl XL had alot of viewers because a boob popped out the year before. The claim in this thread is not “Steelers fans are everywhere and that’s why we hate them” The claim is “Steeler fans are shitheads and thats why we hate them” Cowboy fans are everywhere though, and that’s why we hate THEM. Personally I dont care about the Steelers or their fans. The team is too boring to like or dislike. I just don’t want to have to watch them.

12.17.08 at 2:46 pm

FuckThisPost

Wow, this post is straight ignorant. The Steelers are just like the Yankees? Right, as in they go out and buy the best talent on the market every year by outbidding competitors? Or because they routinely let overpriced players go and develop talent from within. Fuck you! They have so many fans, because a) they’re a solid franchise and b) Pittsburgh is the type of city that a lot of people move away from, and return to later. Would fairweather fans buy multiple tickets to other teams’ stadiums who require them to purchase tickets to multiple games for the expressed purpose of keeping Steelers fans out? No, they fucking wouldn’t. Don’t hate just because we beat you in the Super Bowl and your team and fans have dropped off the face of the earth ever since. Douchebag.

12.17.08 at 2:53 pm

Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction

Nipplegate was in SB XXXVIII, two years prior, so there goes that argument.

12.17.08 at 2:55 pm

Major Mel Funkshun

Pittsburgler Stealers. The name sez it all. WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!

/cries into Seahawk/Jurevicius jersey

12.17.08 at 3:02 pm

LionsIn2027

I’m sorry, I didn’t know Pittsburgh had so many globe trotting socialites with such a wide fanbase around the country. You know what other fan base shows up at other teams stadiums? All of them. There were Titans fans at the Thanksgiving game in Detroit, Vikings fans were here 2 weeks ago. We had Lions fans at Indy last Sunday. It’s the same everywhere for every team. I hate to burst your bubble Steeler fans, but you guys aren’t wildly famous for your wide fan base. Thats not a thing. Non-Steeler fans never thought of you as showing up on the road in unusually high numbers. I’m sure most people would have guessed Dallas as having the widest fan base, what with the whole “America’s team” thing.

12.17.08 at 3:05 pm

Christmas Ape

The “America’s Team” moniker was offered to Pittsburgh first and Art Rooney declined it.

Lionsin2027 – it seems like you must have your head in the sand – its pretty common knowledge that the Steelers have one of the largest fanbases in the country – thats why the Capt. wrote this thing. You probably don’t see many jerseys in Detroit because, well, its one of the few places that actually makes Pittsburgh look good. There are so many Pittsburgh fans because the city used to be one of the biggest in the country, and now those people are widely dispersed around the nation. Someone above said people leave all cities and move to different ones, but for Pittsburgh its been on a different scale. The highschool my father went to in the late 60s and early 70s had so many students they had to go in shifts, now the entire population of that school is smaller than his graduating class. Its not too difficult to put two and two together and figure out why there are lots of fans in opposing stadiums all the time. Its funny that people use that argument to say that Pittsburgh sucks – you know, making fun of something the people of the city can’t control, like the collapse of an industry. Kind of like what could happen in Detroit pretty soon.

As for Steelers football being boring, well it depends what you’re looking for. If all you’re looking for dazzling offense, its not surprising you aren’t a fan.

12.17.08 at 3:27 pm

Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction

Of course Steelers football is boring to Lions fans. There’s nothing more exciting than the possibly of your quarterback running out the back of the endzone.

12.17.08 at 3:48 pm

LionsIn2027

The Superbowl ratings every year are huge no matter who’s playing and the margin from XXXIX to XL was tiny. Anyway the last 2 Superbowls had the most viewers ever and I didn’t see the Steelers, so there goes that argument.

If the Steelers have so many fans around the country, where are the Penguin fans? When the Red Wings play at some opposing arenas, you can hear “Let’s go Red Wings” chants break out. So I guess if the Lions were any good our fans would be packing in stadiums around the country.

I’m pretty sure you have to win more than 1 Superbowl in 30 years to be “America’s Team.” This is the freakin’ Pittsburgh Steelers we’re talking about here, not the New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, or even the Green Bay Packers. Win your crappy division as often as you like, but until you start stringing some Super Bowls together, I’d hold off on bragging about this mythical fan base that nobody seems to be aware off.

12.17.08 at 4:05 pm

Christmas Ape

So the Packers have suddenly won multiple titles in the last 30 years?

12.17.08 at 4:06 pm

LionsIn2027

No, but people actually care about the Packers.

12.17.08 at 4:07 pm

Francois Leroux Speedskater

@Lions

Yes, the Red Wings fans are so devoted that three of my friends (all from Pittsburgh) made the trek from Pittsburgh to Detroit for Game 2 of the Cup Finals and reported back that there were at least a thousand empty seats throughout the game.

Your arguments get better and better. Please make KSK a regular stop on your daily blog journey, we love having you here.

12.17.08 at 4:07 pm

dibbly

Thats exactly the kind of bandwagon shit people complain about, and why it doesn’t make sense to apply it to the Steelers. The Steelers didn’t win a superbowl for 25 years, but they still have crazy fans – are you saying they’re all still on the bandwagon from that long ago? So you only deserve to be “America’s team” if you won multiple superbowls in the past 10 years? Ok, so that eliminates the Cowboys and the Packers. I don’t think I’ve heard anybody call the Patriots america’s team (and they cheated, so you know, enjoy the asterisk.)

Bringing up the Penguins doesn’t make sense for multiple reasons. Hockey is a niche market. It doesn’t have the same widespread popularity as football. It especially doesn’t make sense to invoke the Redwings, since they have trouble selling tickets to home games, and the Penguins sold out every game last season. Couple that with the lockout and how many fans stopped paying attention to hockey and your argument pretty much goes to hell. And this post isn’t about Pittsburgh fans in general, its about Steelers fans.

at least the Packers give the impression they win multiple titles. They are a team you either love or hate. The Steelers are either a team you love because you live there or have no opinion about.

12.17.08 at 4:14 pm

Christmas Ape

at least the Packers give the impression they win multiple titles.

What the fuck does that even mean?

You’re so full of shit.

12.17.08 at 4:20 pm

Christmas Ape

And maybe YOU care about the Packers because they’re a division rival of your Lions.

Yes, like the Steelers, the Packers are a divisive, popular team. But you seem to think your personal opinion about each franchise can be extrapolated to define what the country thinks about them. That’s mighty good solipsism if that’s the case.

12.17.08 at 4:21 pm

LionsIn2027

@dibbly
I didn’t say mutiple Super Bowls in 10 years, I said 30. I don’t think Steelers have bandwagon fans and I don’t think they have particularly crazy or devoted fans either. My point was and is that the Steelers are just like most other teams when it comes to having a fan base around the country. I don’t know what reality you guys are living in, but when most people around the country think of large, widespread fan bases or particularly crazy fans, The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t particularly high on the list. I guess it’s just a Pittsburgh thing and you guys think your fans are wild and crazy and all over the country. Sorry, but most people aren’t in on the secret.

12.17.08 at 4:23 pm

dibbly

maybe i should just cut and paste the first part from that article in case detroit guy can’t figure out how to follow the link

12.17.08 at 4:28 pm

LionsIn2027

@Ape-

Talk about solipism! Just because YOU think the whole country recognizes the Steelers as one of the best all time teams or that they recognize the Steeler fan base as one of the best, don’t make it so my friend.
Folks, go to a message board for any other NFL team and they will tell you that THEY have the biggest fan base or the craziest fans. Better yet, go to an unbiased team like the Arizona Cardinals or St Louis Rams and I gurantee you they will be cluless to this whole Steeler-fans-are-all-over-the-place thing.

First of all, I have never met a Pens or Pirates fan who was not from the Pittsburgh area. I cannot say the same about Steelers fans. Be that as it may, Leitch is right. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re likable, but they haven’t inspired the same backlash as every other successful franchise. Sure, there’s Steeler hate, but it tends to be concentrated in areas like Cleveland and Cincinnati and Seattle.

Personally speaking, I disliked Pittsburgh quite a bit in the mid-90s when the Dolphins and Steelers were both legit AFC contenders. But it was the garden-variety hate you have for a team that threatens your playoff position, not a blood feud. Then in the late 90s, the Steelers hit a rough patch. By the time they had recovered, the Dolphins were in free-fall. Why waste hate that could be directed at the Patriots or Cowboys? Right now, I’m just glad the Dolphins are relevant enough to be worth mocking again.

Maybe I should cut and paste my own posts…my point in the first place is that the article is off base and that the idea that “People around the country love the Steelers” comes completely out of left field. You know why America doesn’t hate the Steelers like they hate the Yankees, Patriots, or Red Sox??? It’s because they DON’T CARE about the Steelers enough to hate them!!! The Steelers aren’t relevant enough to form an opinion about geniuses. Win or Lose, regular unbiased fans don’t care!!!

12.17.08 at 4:36 pm

Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction

@Lions

I know you think the Steelers are “boring,” but watch any way game the Steelers play in. It seems that no matter where the game is played, close to 40-50% of the fans are Steelers fans. Hell at the Redskins game this year, there were probably more Steelers fans than Redskins fans.

12.17.08 at 4:40 pm

LionsIn2027

That ranking is for fan bases WITHIN their own city based on HOME ticket sales. Clevland is #3 on the list…..you think people around the country love them some Browns? AHhahahaha

12.17.08 at 4:41 pm

dibbly

So the article by the former player recounting his time playing for several teams that were not the Steelers, and having no connection to the Steelers or the Pittsburgh area in any way, who also took a poll of current players that resulted in the Steelers fans being called the best in the NFL is off base? How? Because you don’t agree with it? Nothing you have said holds any water.

12.17.08 at 4:42 pm

Christmas Ape

Or maybe you should just ignore any evidence that runs counter to whatever opinion you’re set on maintaining. This has been a fun exercise in arguing with a wall. I think this post and the comments that have followed it are evidence that people care about the Steelers, for good or worse. If that’s not good enough for some tard determined not to have a clue, then whatevs.

12.17.08 at 4:43 pm

Christmas Ape

Part of the ranking is also based on how fans “travel” and Pittsburgh is ranked second in that category.

12.17.08 at 4:45 pm

LionsIn2027

@Kordell
When the Steelers play an actual good team on the road then see how many Steeler fans you see. Half the fans at the Vikings Lions game were from Minnesota. Nobody wants to go see there own shit team play, so it looks like the place is packed with Steeler fans.

12.17.08 at 4:47 pm

LionsIn2027

YES Thank you Ape, Steeler fans traveling FROM Pittsburgh. They don’t live in those cities. I’m sure a few do, but not to the extent you people think.

12.17.08 at 4:53 pm

LionsIn2027

Hey Dibbly
I’m going to go to a Chicago Bears blog now and argue that THEY don’t have the best fans and biggest fan base in the NFL.. and that the Steelers have the most die hard fans, lol. So basically I’ll be having the exact same discussion as i am here, but with opposite teams… I’m sure they will have plenty of biased articles to prove THEIR points as well as you do yours about the Steelers. Who’s holding the water now my friend??

12.17.08 at 5:03 pm

JustJoe

FanBaFlaWa

Lions, please get a fucking life.

12.17.08 at 5:07 pm

LionsIn2027

The Chicago folks made some excellent points as to why the Bears have the craziest and most widespread fan base: Alot of people leaving Illinois to live in cities spread around the country (at a higher rate than most of course), their Superbowl against the Colts had the most TV viewers EVER (until last year), opposing stadiums half filled with Bear fans, multiple championships and Superbowl appearances, and accounts from ex-players like Walter Payton and Refridgerator Perry about how wild and crazy Bear fans were at road games. Now lets see what Cowboy nation has to say on the subject. See ya later!

12.17.08 at 5:13 pm

Tim Tebow's Girlfriend's Tits

Part of the ranking is also based on how fans “travel” and Pittsburgh is ranked second in that category.

Do you have any idea how gay this sounds?

12.17.08 at 5:17 pm

LionsIn2027

Thanks Joe, I think I will get a Second Life. I’ve always wanted to try online gaming. Right after I go take a hike…I just ate too much fruit…I cut it up into a nice fruit bowl as to not choke on it.

12.17.08 at 5:21 pm

Dibbly

How’s the article biased?

12.17.08 at 5:33 pm

LionsIn2027

Really?? that’s all you have to say? Ok…if you want to be technical, he’s just reporting his opinion. It’s not fact. Opinions are biased or else you wouldn’t have one.

12.17.08 at 5:57 pm

Christmas Ape

Dibbly, don’t even bother.

Someone that hellbent on hanging onto their opinion, no matter how clearly wrong it is, won’t be convinced with any amount of evidence.

12.17.08 at 6:13 pm

Kordell Stewart Slash Fiction

A chair, a few feet of rope and a Cher album on repeat is usually pretty convincing.

12.17.08 at 6:17 pm

martinriggs

An old proverb reads, “The stick won’t break & the snake won’t die”……….figure out if applies to this discussion.

12.17.08 at 6:18 pm

dibbly

I know I shouldn’t bother, but it is kind of staggering that Lionsdude can actually write what he just wrote and not want to punch himself in the face shortly after reading it. Note this section of the aforementioned article: “For the record, I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, was an Eagles fan during my youth and subsequently played for five NFL squads that were not located in Pittsburgh, so I have no allegiance whatsoever to the Steelers or their fans. I just call it like I see it.” Thats the part where the author explains how he is not biased toward Pittsburgh. He then goes on to make the point of the article, despite his ambivalence towards the team.

This is similar to how you suggested we ask some fans from Arizona or St. Louis. But fans will always think they are the best. However, if you ask players without the risk of alienating their fan bases (anonymously) and the consensus which they arrive at is that the Steelers have the best fans (and this is not just one player, but several) – well where is the bias there?

12.17.08 at 6:23 pm

martinriggs

Waiting for Lions2027 to pull out the “Ape, you’re just being glib………You don’t know fanbases…….I know fanbases” mantra that worked so well for another not-so-well-informed “opinionater”

12.17.08 at 6:32 pm

Tom Brady's Manchowder

I’m pissed I missed all of this, I’ve been suffering from haterade withdrawl, shaking and shit, seriously. And now if I may, the Steelers stole SBXL when Kimo von Oelhoffen von Oelhoffed Carson Palmer. Eat a fat cantelope juice soaked dick Ape.

12.17.08 at 6:36 pm

dibbly

I just played my brother with the Jets and von Oelhoffened tom brady – it was probably the most satisfying video game experience I’ve ever encountered.

12.17.08 at 6:40 pm

Christmas Ape

Yup. The Steelers took the title. And they’re never giving it back.

12.17.08 at 7:12 pm

dibbly

200th?

12.17.08 at 8:42 pm

J-daddy

There are more Steeler fans than fans of any other team in the NFL. Go to any grocery store in any state on a sunday morning and you will see more people decked out in Steeler gear (jerseys, not just hats), than stuff for any other team. Steeler fans are legion, and it’s not just transplanted people from PIttsburgh. The Steelers gained their rabid fandom in the 1970’s when they were on TV all the time (winning Super Bowls, throwing towels for a bottle of Coca-Cola) and people adopted them as their team. Those people have also remained Steeler fans because they grew to indentify with the team, and the Rooney family (the best owners in all of football). The only two teams that come close to matching the Steelers in fandom are the Packers and the Cowboys, and those teams peak and valley in their fandom, unlike the Steelers.

12.17.08 at 8:49 pm

bobby steels

Man oh man, I’ve missed out on this thread. I’m not going to add my two cents, because it’s all been said. But I wouldm have loved to. Damn work, making me miss all the hatehatehatehate.

All work and no hate makes bobby something something.

12.18.08 at 12:18 am

skc

blah, blah, blah…this post goes on forever.

anyway, if I’m a Steelers fan I would be scared shitless that Big Ben is my quarterback. Sure, they have a good defense but I just can’t see Ben winning three games in a row in the playoffs against elite NFL teams without turning the ball over a bunch of times. In one three game period this season (Giants, @Redskins, Colts) Big Ben threw eight interceptions.

12.18.08 at 12:24 am

Doug's Kin Flutie

@J-daddy: all I wanted was a Pepsi

12.18.08 at 12:25 am

Christmas Ape

And how many picks has Ben thrown in the five games since? One.

12.18.08 at 12:56 am

ForWhomJayBellTolls

It’s like when I talk to Canadian people, and they want to talk about how they know more about hockey than me!!! Really!?!?

And I hate it when Greek people act like they founded the fucking olympics, when they were born in the 1980’s!

I only respect football fans that are old as hell!!!!!

You are a total idiot if you moved away from Pittsburgh when the steel mills closed but still kept your football allegiance in your family!!!!!!!

(This douche is easily the worst writer on the staff and that includes Flubby)

12.18.08 at 1:55 am

bigdaddyperrotta

J.L. White Says:

December 16th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I know there are some non-douche Steeler fans jere (like Ape), but the rest of you asses can kiss me right here:

jl white suckin off christmasape. your life seems to have went down hill after watching super bowl xl. perhaps suicide?

i admit i am an asshole when it comes to the steelers, but i’ve been watching the steelers every game every sunday since i was 7 years old and attend games whenever i can (i live in ny). I was actually at the regular season game last year where we shit on seattle. they didn’t even score a fucking touchdown. fuck the patriots.

12.18.08 at 2:19 am

allie

I am one of those Steelers fans who got the hell out of Pittsburgh the day after I graduated from high school – I’m in northern California now for grad school and I think I know more Steelers fans here than Niners/Raiders fans. How confusing…

I still love my Pens and Pirates too, though I can’t bring myself to watch a full Pirates game since 1992 because I was 11 years old and I cried my eyes out after Sid Bream destroyed the Pirates World Series hopes and well….look at what’s happened since. :(

12.18.08 at 2:40 am

skc

“Christmas Ape Says:
December 18th, 2008 at 12:25 am

And how many picks has Ben thrown in the five games since? One.”

Yeah, but he fumbled it twice, also. Showcasing his other flaw: staying the pocket too long and not protecting the ball enough. Also, let’s look at what teams he faced in that stretch: chargers (crappy defense), bengals (crappier defense), New England (so-so defense with their primary weakness being pass coverage. he threw a pick.), Dallas (fumbled once), Ravens (fumbled once). You have to be a total homer to not think Ben is an average QB at best.

Turnovers/TD ratio for 2008 season–

Ben – 17/15
Elisha – 12/20

12.18.08 at 2:41 am

skc

and he does all this with hines ward.

12.18.08 at 4:17 am

Dum Bunny

… Well, I didn’t hate the Steelers too much when I started reading this thread, but after finding out what all their fans are like, I think I do now. LOL.

12.18.08 at 9:22 am

Tim Tebow's Girlfriend's Tits

The only two teams that come close to matching the Steelers in fandom are the Packers and the Cowboys, and those teams peak and valley in their fandom, unlike the Steelers.

Have you ever been to Wisconsin? There are no valleys in rooting for the Packers.

My God, you Steelers fans are whinier and more self-centere than Patriots fans. Believe it or not, the world does not revolve around you or your team. There are plenty of fanbases just as dedicated as yours. Get over yourselves.

12.18.08 at 9:23 am

Tim Tebow's Girlfriend's Tits

We have not even started talking about how racist Steelers fans are.

Coach Tomlin is… so articulate!

12.18.08 at 9:27 am

pink

I like the steelers. Is it wrong to be a pats fan and really admire troy polomolu? They got robbed by the Colts! Maybe its just my undying hate for the colts that makes me like the steelers? Or maybe that whole “steel curtain” thing still as a nice ring to it and is ingrained in my memory from when I was a kid? I never even QUESTIONED why I didn’t hate the steelers at all until I read this post!

Thanks! I must be brainwashed.

At any rate. The steelers are a great team. I don’t know why the fans seem to hate the Pats, but then again, everyone in america does. Thats all right. I hate everyone else in america anyways!

I hope the steelers kick the crap out of the titans. And hopefully they make it to the superbowl, because everyone laughed at me at the beginnig of the year when I said they were going in 2009! Make it happen.

12.18.08 at 9:37 am

Christmas Ape

We have not even started talking about how racist Steelers fans are.

See, the difference is, we made fun of Pats fans last year and their fans showed up and popped off the N-word every other comment. Nice try, though.

You have to be a total homer to not think Ben is an average QB at best.

Conversely, he’s struggled some this season behind a crappy offensive line while playing hurt, so you would have to be a total hater for you to think a QB with a career rating of 90 and a 50-19 record as a starter is average at best.

12.18.08 at 11:34 am

LazyIrish

Be real now. The Steelers don’t get any more lucky calls than anyone else in the league. It just so happens that they caught big breaks at big moments and that’s what pisses everyone off. But they were just as unlucky as their opponents more than a few times. Ask James Harrison’s strangulation marks how many holding penalties were missed in the Baltimore game. Ask Polomalu’s anal beads how they were able to stay in after his overturned game winning interception against the Colts in 2005. Ask Jerome Bettis’s gravitational pull what strange effect it had on the Thanksgiving Day coin toss.

You’ve got to have a more realistic position than, “The Steelers paid the refs for every call ever.” Maybe refs are as stupid as their explanations of their calls would lead you to believe they are. i.e. the Holmes TD, “The reciever had posession and both feet down.” Who gives a fuck! Where was the ball!?!?!?!

But I digress…The human candy bar silo in the “XXL” Steelers tent somehow managed to get a wedding ring on one of her bratwursts.

12.18.08 at 12:37 pm

Brother Mouzone

[i]Conversely, he’s struggled some this season behind a crappy offensive line while playing hurt, so you would have to be a total hater for you to think a QB with a career rating of 90 and a 50-19 record as a starter is average at best.[/i]

Living here in Pgh, Ben gets an unfair amount of hate from Steelers fans. Have they seen some of the other QBs teams have to deal with?

12.18.08 at 12:57 pm

Xian

The reason why there are Steeler fans across the nation is not due to fair weather fans picking them up. Part of it is from that sure. Even more likely comes from itis from the success in the 70s.

But the bulk of it is because of the mass exodus of people from Pittsburgh. The population literally shed a good million people in the past 30 years or so. It’s not just the Steel industry going away.

I remember in elementary school when Gulf Oil left Pittsburgh. Many of my friends moved away as their parents were transferred or got new jobs.

It’s truly a Steelers Nation, but not by choice.

12.18.08 at 2:05 pm

Jayhawks_Steelers_Fan

Holly shit, she ate Big Snack(Casey Hampton). Damn I guess I’m an asshole, love it, wouldn’t change it. Seattle fans, now I know why that area has the highest suicide rate in the US. You guys can’t get over something that has happen over 3 years ago, sounds like you guys need help here’s a number 1-800-273-TALK, please don’t kill yourself..

12.18.08 at 2:45 pm

'Burgh Stiller

‘Why, it’s almost as if most of them only became die-hard fans because the team is so successful!’

Well fuck me…and there I was thinking it had to do with the steel factories and coal mines shutting down in the 70’s and 80’s…and then the more recent corporate outsourcing of what was left of the Pittsburgh industrial base forcing hundreds of thousands of Pittsburgh natives over the decades to find work in other parts of the country…which in turn led to Steelers bars cropping up in every corner of the country. Had no idea it was all just a success driven bandwagon…apparently… Thanks for the clarification.

And for the record…the first Steelers game I went to was late in a 5 win/11 loss season…and we were beaten badly by the Bengals at home. Three Rivers was full ’til the end. Success isn’t why a person becomes, and remains, a Steelers fan. Only 2 or 3 other teams in the NFL have fans that share that sense of loyalty (even if they don’t travel nearly as well as the Steeler Nation to away games). Seattle, I’m afraid to say, ain’t one of those teams.

12.18.08 at 3:45 pm

BussyCrushesUrlacher

Steeler Nation does not have to travel. We’re already there. If anybody doesn’t get it, go to MySpace, click on the Videos tab, and type in “Steeler Nation”. Then watch and learn.
Besides which, back when there was a mass exodus from here in the 80’s, there were very few teams in the Sunbelt where most people moved to. No Carolina team. No Jacksonville. No Tennessee. No Phoenix. Atlanta and N.O. mostly sucked. And Tampa Bay was, well, Tampa Bay. So most people who moved continued to follow the Steelers.
The Steelers are symbolic of the city. We aren’t fancy, we just get the job done.

12.18.08 at 6:56 pm

BussyCrushesUrlacher

Also while I think about it, Buffalo and Detroit are losing population now about as fast as Pittsburgh was in back the 80’s. Get back to me in 20 years if there are Bills and Lions bars and fan clubs all over the country. Two years ago I happened to be driving through Buffalo on a Sunday and irate people were calling the sports talk station because the home Bills game was blacked out. Well, if you’d sell out the stadium that wouldn’t be a problem. Pittsburgh has sold out every home game since 1972.

12.22.08 at 4:41 pm

Mickey

You must be a Brown’s fan. Look the reason Steelers fans are throughout the country is because we moved away from Western PA due to economic reasons, but choose to follow our Black and Gold vs. Bandwagonning whatever crappy team happens to be near by. Sorry you weren’t lucky enough to be born a Steeler Fan.

Perhaps you should seek counseling for your Obvious Envy of a Real Team with Real Fans, because we are out at the Bars in our Jerseys Win or Lose….can’t say the same about any Other Team.

12.22.08 at 4:46 pm

Unsilent Majority

You must be a Brown’s fan.

That’s solid research.

Little known fact: Allegheny County used to have a population to rival that of Shanghai.

12.24.08 at 10:50 am

BussyCrushesUrlacher

I wouldn’t call it a “little known fact” that Pittsburgh currently has half the population that it did in 1950. But when jobs dry up we don’t sit around feeling sorry and collecting unemployment and welfare, we go elsewhere looking for work.

01.20.09 at 12:10 am

PITT

As someone who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, I am so freakin happy to see someone who shares my loathing for the steelers and their fans. You have no idea how many times I have had to explain to people that yes, I am from Pittsburgh, and NO I am not a steelers fan. Their players are pompous assholes and their fans are the most obnoxious people on the planet. It is so painful to have to sit through their chanting and singing polka songs for half the year. I love football, but the end of football season is a welcome release from listening to the damn steelers fans as much for a few months. Whines Hard is a prick. Ben is a douche. The only reason any of their defensive players with the exception of the caveman look good is because dick lebeau is a genius, not because any of the players are actually all that special. Notice the fact that the linebackers come out of nowhere and are great, and then suck ass when they go somewhere else. Its a SYSTEM defense. Anyway, f-ck the steelers

01.20.09 at 4:19 pm

Carson "The Choker" Palmer

Ah my knee… aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

01.20.09 at 4:22 pm

Carson "The Choker" Palmer

P.S. A big shout out to the bitter, waste-of-DNA genetically inferior mouthbreathers on the Go-Bengals.com forums. Man I can’t wait to get out of this hick town when my contract’s up and back to California. Boy does Cincinnati suck donkey gonads!

Although I do confess I’ve grown a fondness for Cornhole since I’ve been here.

01.20.09 at 4:30 pm

Kimo von Oelhoffen

Hey, what’s all the fuss about? Can’t we all just get along?

01.20.09 at 4:31 pm

Kimo von Oelhoffen

P.S. Anyone see my Super Bowl ring? Can’t seem to find it.

01.21.09 at 11:15 am

I Just Took a Seahawks Fan -- I Mean, A Good Shit

Face it, the Seahawks would’ve lost Super Bowl XL even if they would’ve gotten 20 calls in their favor and the Steelers none. Why? Because Seattle will always be a loser franchise that specializes in finding ways to lose. Down deep, the Seahawk fan is happy about the ref controversy, because it gives him something to hide behind, to cover the stink of failure. Kind of like blaming the weather for making you flunk out of college.

And to the assclown who wrote this little whine piece — way to hate all the best teams in the world — the World Cup Champ Italian soccer team, the champion Steelers. You truly represent the Seahawk fan base well. As a loser, now and forever!

01.31.09 at 3:23 pm

Dan

Here we go Steelers here we go!!!!!!!

You sir are an uneducated bum.

Pittsburgh is simply the City of Champions and after we win the 6th Super Bowl on Sunday there will be no argument.

Can’t wait to play another Super Bowl as a home game!!!!!!!

02.04.09 at 6:19 am

hotblondeslavicgal

PA is 90% fugly women & men. I have to endure the hill-git-r-done, breed with only a few gene pools PA people. Look @ your fat, greasy Gov & unibrow Sen.
Mullets, huntin’, tinted wire rim glasses from the 70s. Just watch the audience in “Slapshot” & everyone looks the same- fat, white, doughy & SMOKES- GROSS
AZ is 90% beautiful people, healthy, way more in shape.. even the chubby people dress cool.
so say what you want…. all you sw PA people have is Super Bowls… a dying economy, run -down areas, corrupt gov’t… gloat all you want. BTW, I was born in sw PA & so glad my parents couldn’t stand the stupid talk: yunz, yinz, dems, doze & deez, BAD English- are your teachers are stupid as you are? YES… they are UNION… Keep your crappy weather & fatty foods. I’ll take the WEST- At least we make pretty kids instead of hee-haw, redneck, coot-coot inbreeds plus you has Jabba the Murtha embarassment. hahahahahahaa

05.14.09 at 10:16 pm

StealersRHomo

Wow, Did anyone happen to catch the David Letterman show the night after the SEAHAWKS’ superbowl when Ben was on there talking about his “phantom touchdown”? If not ill sum it up for you shithead fagget stealer fans; HE ADMITTED BRAGGINGLY THAT HE DIDNT GET IT IN AND SNUCK IT OVER THE LINE AFTER HE WAS ALREADY DOWN BY CONTACT. What a fucking douche.

06.19.09 at 8:55 pm

Pat Baseler

This website is what makes it fun to be a steeler fan. Reason being is because every time we put your team into the fucking dirt all you pussies start crying. I’m so tired of you fucking faggot haters talking shit. I’m glad we put the faggot ass ravens out 3 times this year. I agree we are like a cancer except we dont die we multiply rings biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttch. Check out that rock we got and suck a fat dick you hating cocksuckers. Oh yeah i also disown that fatbitch in the middle holy fuck. Go to youtube and type in hot steeler women and you will see the real deal buddy. Thanks for the website makes me proud that your day is so fucked up because our team is world champs hahahahaaha sorry about your luck you fucking nerd looking faggot.

06.22.09 at 4:48 pm

Who doesn't hate the SteAlers

I love all the SteAler fan posts. They are proof of just how terrible the SteAler fans are. After looking into the actual city, I say let em have the SB rings. Crime, unemployeement, qualitly of life, average income, education. All of these things rate among the lowest in the country in Pitt. If not for Detroit it would be the worst major city to live in, in the entire USA. I guess that is why the NFL had officals from Pitt in SB XL. They wanted to get the suicide rate up a little as your fat stupid, ugly fans kept killing themselves without a title to attach themselves to. Another reason to hate SteAler fans is that they attach themselves to the SB wins like they were a assistan coach on the fucking team. Like they deserve credit for the win just like the players. I know of no other team where fans so regularly attach themselves to a teams acomplishments as SteAler fans do. Funny how the team itself is like-able but the fans are such ass clowns that the team is one of the most hated in the NFL.

07.18.09 at 8:34 am

Myke

The Steelers are a great football franchise! I say that being a total Seahawks fan since I was 8 years old(im 41 now). Superbowl xl was, without a doubt, the worst refereed game in the history of the Superbowl. I hated the refs more than the Steelers! I still believe we arent far from getting back!!

01.18.10 at 12:37 pm

CringShehawk

Haha! Keep crying because your franchise is a shithole and will NEVER win a Super Bowl ring. Faggots.

04.20.10 at 9:40 am

buycampinggear

Your RSS feed does not work properly in my browser (firefox) how could i fix it?

10.24.10 at 9:05 pm

phil

watch out the curtain will fool you and then even 1 point might be crucial ha ha you faggotts dont have a clue go p-burg suck me and all of troy ‘s privates lololololol

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05.11.11 at 5:44 pm

AQualityRepair

Do a little research schmuck and you will know why there are steeler fans, not only all over the country, but, all over the world. When the steel industry there collapsed everyone there had to move somewhere to find work, that is the reason we are all over the world.

05.11.11 at 5:50 pm

AQualityRepair

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